The U.S. dollar was on track to end the week in negative territory on Friday amid statements from U.S. officials including President Donald Trump that indicated positivity on the trade front.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said that the U.S. and China had come to a strong agreement on currency, according to reports, after the U.S. demanded China to stabilize the yuan /zigman2/quotes/210561991/realtime/sampledUSDCNY0.0000%/zigman2/quotes/210561989/realtime/sampledUSDCNH-0.0248%
as part of a deal.

Trump and Chinese President Xi are discussing a meeting in late March to complete a deal.

A March 1 deadline for fresh Chines tariffs to be raised to 25% from 10% looms, with President Donald Trump indicating that he may be flexible on hiking duties, as discussions remain hung up on a number of issues, including Beijing’s handling of American intellectual property, according to reports
.

Trump met Chinese Vice Premier Liu He Friday afternoon.

No major U.S. economic releases are scheduled for Friday, but a parade of Federal Reserve officials are scheduled to speak at a monetary-policy forum throughout the day. Vice Chairman Richard Clarida spoke to central bank’s current strategy review, and said the inflation and communications strategy could change in the future.

The ICE U.S. Dollar Index /zigman2/quotes/210598269/delayedDXY+0.29%
was down 0.1% at 96.505. This week’s Fed meeting minutes, which offered sufficient signs that policy makers are uncertain about the economic outlook, had led the greenback to find some stability in the second half of the week, market participants said.

The gauge is on track for a 0.3% drop on the week, its first negative performance in three weeks, according to FactSet data.

The euro /zigman2/quotes/210561242/realtime/sampledEURUSD-0.0443%
was little changed $1.1338. European Central Bank President Mario Draghi warned euroskeptics that leaving the European Union or the eurozone wouldn’t necessarily lead to greater sovereignty, during a speech at an honorary ceremony at the University of Bologna in Italy, according to Reuters
.

The British pound /zigman2/quotes/210561263/realtime/sampledGBPUSD-0.0237%
regained some strength as trading continued, having started the session on the back foot. Sterling last bought at $1.3059, up from $1.3040. With Brexit still unresolved, the expectation of a thee-months delay to Britain’s protracted plan to exit from the European Union is shifting toward consensus.

“That sort of delay pushes us into and through the May election cycle which the EU and the U.K. would rather avoid. EU elections have been preparing for the U.K. to not be involved, if they are suddenly involved again but only as temporary politicians, etc, it just gets messy,” said Brad Bechtel, managing director in currencies at Jefferies. “It raises the bar for uncertainty and negative headlines and sentiment would be a pound and euro-negative.”

Meanwhile, in the antipodes, the Australian dollar /zigman2/quotes/210560947/realtime/sampledAUDUSD+0.0144%
was the worst performer on Thursday, on the back of reports that some Chinese ports were banning Australian cole imports, bounced higher on Friday. During the Asian session, the Reserve Bank of Australia signaled that there was no need for near-term interest-rate changes, dismissing the idea of an imminent rate cut as had been forecast by some economists. The Aussie dollar last fetched $0.7136, compared with $0.7089 late Thursday in New York.

Elsewhere, the Japanese yen /zigman2/quotes/210561789/realtime/sampledUSDJPY+0.0292%
was little changed versus the dollar, which fetched ¥110.68. In an interview with Japan’s Asahi newspaper, Bank of Japan Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda said that the central bank would consider loosening monetary policy further if the economy lost momentum. Last week, Japan’s fourth quarter gross domestic product numbers came in below expectations, but rebounded from the prior quarter.

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